The Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT1)’s Roosevelt Station has been officially renamed Fernando Poe Jr. Station after the late King of Philippine movies.
In an unveiling ceremony held in the station on Poe’s birthday, the actor’s adopted daughter Senator Grace Poe emphasized the contribution of Filipino artists to the country.
“FPJ has long been the symbol of the Filipino masses — whether you are a police officer, student, worker, all of us work hard and struggle every day to give our children a better future,” Poe said in her speech.
The senator also said the initial symbolic act to commemorate her late father through naming a station after him is one way to recognize Filipino artists.
“May each person who passes through FPJ station remember that his heart was always with the Filipino masses,” she said in a Facebook post.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte Duterte signed Republic Act 11608, renaming Roosevelt Avenue to Fernando Poe Jr. Avenue, with the street sign put in place in December last year.
Poe’s ancestral home is located on Roosevelt Avenue in the first legislative district of Quezon city.
The change in station name is in accordance with RA 11608, the Light Rail Manila Corp., the operator of the LRT Line 1, said.
“In renaming Roosevelt Station to Fernando Poe Jr. Station, we hope that Filipinos will always remember and will be inspired by how FPJ lived with values of determination, courage, and hope. LRMC shares these values and supports the promotion of local arts and culture,” Juan F. Alfonso, LRMC president and chief executive said.
A commuters group criticized the renaming of the station however.
“It’s a good way to honor those who have truly contributed to the country when it comes to the arts, but it may cause confusion amongpeople, especially commuters,” Primo Morillo of the Passenger Forum said in an interview.
Morillo said commuters were used to referring to the area as Roosevelt or Muñoz and the sudden change could leave some of them at a loss.
“We get the intentions, but maybe there are other ways to honor FPJ without having to cause confusion among commuters,” he added.
Meanwhile, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte welcomed the Senate’s approval of a measure renaming Agham and BIR roads after the late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
“I wholeheartedly support the move of the Senate to name the streets after the late senator,” she said.
“This is such a big honor for the city to carry the name of the senator who fearlessly fought corruption and stood for the welfare of the people,” she added.
With 22 affirmative votes and zero negative votes or abstention, the Senate approved on third and final reading House Bill 7413 seeking to rename the roadways of Agham Road and BIR Road to Senator Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago Avenue.
Santiago, who died in September 2016 after a long battle with lung cancer, held various positions in three branches of government.
She served as presiding judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, and worked as commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration and as secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform.
She also served as senator for three terms.
She was the first Asian judge elected at the International Criminal Court, the first Filipino as a commissioner for the International Development Organization and as a legal officer of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland. With Rio N. Araja
